Arc Raiders PvP: A Brutal Battlefield Where Trust Is a Gamble

Arc Raiders is a relentlessly punishing experience. If the Rocketeer Arc isn’t vaporizing me while I’m cracking open an Arc husk, then it’s a lurking raider slipping a shotgun blast into my spine while I’m rummaging through drawers in some collapsed, ash-covered apartment block. Violence thrives in the Rust Belt — most encounters become a “shoot first, figure it out later” scenario.

I’m hardly innocent either. More than once, I’ve loosed a Ferro round into a completely unaware raider simply because they appeared as even a remote threat. Still, scattered throughout all that chaos and brutality, I’ve witnessed small but memorable moments of humanity.

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During my opening hours with the game, I found myself on a surprisingly lucky solo run, snagging a rare Dog Collar to upgrade my Scrappy — the rooster companion that scoops up loot for you while AFK. Alongside that, my pack was loaded with valuables, including a blueprint for the Osprey. Losing any of it would’ve been painful.

I crept toward an active hatch on Dam Battlegrounds, waiting for others to pass through. It was a solo queue match (and the game generally tries to group solo players together), yet in seconds four or five raiders came sprinting toward the extract. What should’ve been a disaster somehow turned wholesome. I sprinted forward shouting into proximity chat, “Don’t shoot me, please!” Another player echoed the sentiment. To my shock, all five of us extracted peacefully, hauling our full inventories back to Speranza without a bullet fired.

Arc Raiders frames itself as an extraction shooter where fellow raiders aren’t inherently the villains — the Arc machines roaming the surface are the true hostile force in the story. In theory, players should band together, push back against the robots, and return home richer and more prepared for the next run.

In those first early days after launch, that spirit was alive and well. But things have shifted.

Pure Aggression, No Talking, Only Shooting

Maybe it’s the hours I play (usually painfully early in the morning EU time before work), but lately most solo encounters end the same way — total violence with zero hesitation. I’ve already been double-crossed several times: the classic “Don’t shoot!” followed by a friendly hop or two, and then the moment I turn my back, an entire Torrente magazine stitched directly into me.

I’m really not shocked. Despite the cooperative foundation in the lore, Arc Raiders is — at its core — a PvP extraction game where practically every scrap of loot holds value. Of course players want whatever’s in my backpack. I also admit I’m overly trusting, probably because I don’t come from years of extraction-shooter experience. And honestly, even though betrayal stings, those rare moments of unexpected teamwork feel all the more meaningful because of the constant danger. So no, I’m not giving up on trying to make alliances in the Rust Belt.

Still, I do hope the overall playstyle doesn’t change too drastically as the population naturally dips between wipes. Embark Studios crafted something genuinely special in the way proximity chat shapes interactions and how the Arc robots act as a shared external threat. Helping — or being helped by — total strangers is one of Arc Raiders’ most charming strengths, and I love that the game quietly encourages it. You can revive downed players regardless of team, and you can extract alongside people you’ve never met.

Even if you’re not keen on voice chat, the emote wheel offers plenty of ways to communicate intent. Personally, I think it’s always worth trying — even if you need to zigzag when things get tense. And if you ever hear a British guy politely asking to team up, feel free to either put a round in my skull or join me for a raid. No matter what, I’m planning to keep enjoying Arc Raiders for exactly what it is.